The River Within: Loving God, Living Passionately

by Jeff Imbach

Book Overview

IS THIS ALL THERE IS? Have you ever wondered why your experience doesn't measure up to the radical life of joy and adventure described time and again in the Bible? Are you so busy "doing" that life... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1576830454
• ISBN13: 9781576830451
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: NavPress Publishing Group
• Length: 277 Pages
• Weight: 0.78 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.4" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Writing That Flows

Not only is Imbach an excellent writer, but he gently clasps readers hands as he freely admits his own weaknesses and fears. Imbach challenged me to think and to grow. I loved this book.

One of the best books I've ever read

I've read many books on this topic and this is one of the best I've ever read. Mr. Imbach is theologically sound and intimate with the deeper things of God. The book is well written, balanced and thoughtfully comprehensive. A must for anyone pressing in to the heart of God.

This bok inpacted my life more than any other

I strongly recommend this book for anyone who wants to deepen their relationship with God. I found my self struggeling with a fragmented relationship. God seemed only relivent to certian parts of my life and threatening to other parts. This book changed my whole perspective on relating to God. Imbach uses the Trinity to show us that God wants to know all of us and not to be afraid of our passions as they are an expression of the loving trinity. Imbach says that our passion or feelings of longing are "an unquenchable thirst within us that is the sign of God. We may not handle it well. We may distort it into lust and greed, but it is the flowing of the Trinity in our lives. It opens us up and drives us to find union beyond ourselves. What we want most deeply is to be consumed with God, to lose ourselves in Gods fullness." Now insted of pretending that certian feelings or parts of myself don't exist I find myself bringing them into my relationship with God. What a wonderfull new freedom I have felt!

Imbach will put you right in the boat with the Triune God

Last year a close friend of mine told me, "You've just got to read this book about God's passion." Having a visual scanning disability, I don't read very much. I pick and choose rather carefully before I invest my time in a book. But I respected the source of this recommendation; so, I read the book. Wow, what I discovered was a spiritual kaleidoscope! Every now and again you read something that becomes a crossroads experience. THE RIVER WITHIN was that for me. I love word pictures. I love them to teach me, and I love to use them to teach others. Imbach's "River Within" is a multifaceted picture of the Triune God and our relationship with Him. Other than the Bible itself, I probably gained more insight into how God loves me and where to take my love for Him than in any other book I have ever read. Passion is a concept that Christians treat like a hot-potato. They don't know how to handle it. Jeff Imbach made me realize that "passion" need not be a slithering serpent that we avoid as Christians. He showed me that I can be passionate in my life and not necessarily be afraid that I'm being selfish or sinful. He made me realize that passion comes from the expression of a relational Triune God who wants to lavish passion on me and show me how to relate it to others, including those whom I love so dearly. Imbach's last few chapters will blow you away! He has one Chapter (12) entitled Living Passionately in Creation. The Author is from Canada, and his passion for nature is so lovingly transparent. I'm not an environmentalist. After reading Chapter 12, I still am not. But reading it did make me acutely aware of one tangible way God communes with us, demonstrating His love for us through His creation. I am much more tuned into creation than I ever have been because of Imbach's word pictures of God's passion being painted in nature. I challenge you to read Chapter 12 and not love God more when you see a pair of doves cuddling together or see the colors of a sunset when you're walking down a beach with someone you love. This neat Albertan from Calgary will get inside you and cause you to recognize elements in your soul that you may have feared but need not. He'll take you on a trip down the river of life and show you how to shore up your banks and keep the love of God flowing more steadily as you let the Trinity flow through you. It's a sterling experience, THE RIVER WITHIN, and I hope you will take the trip as I did. But beware, you may come out at the other end of the river loving God more and being much more vulnerable than you ever have before. No travel down this river can be taken without risk. There will be bumpy waters; but you'll ride the tide knowing that you're in the boat with Christ, and that He's taking you on the ride of your life.

If you feel life has short-changed you, read this!

Jeff Imbach is an author who pushes limits. Most of us long to live with passion, to experience all life has to offer. Yet, in fear of being hurt or of hurting others, we hold back, suppress ourselves."The River Within: Loving God, Living Passionately" reveals how to follow our passions while holding a balance in our lives. It is an intimate exploration of how to walk paths which keep us true to ourselves, while holding those around us in a loving embrace. Jeff Imbach writes in a self-revealing, vulnerable style designed to show readers how to live with courage in following the calls and demands and whispers of life.Carl Jung wrote that the second half of life is devoted to integration of all we've experienced, all the parts of our selves. Imbach shows how to accomplish this integration through God while opening up for more experiences, more fullness of life, more passion. In reading this book one believes it is possible to flow totally down the river of life, holding nothing back. One believes, as Imbach quotes, "You could be all Fire!"